California Conference for the Advacement of the Ceramic Arts

This weekend Nathan and I took an impromptu day trip to Davis for the California Conference for the Advancement of the Ceramic Arts.  Schools from all over the state create make-shift galleries in the little town to display student work.  The fancy schools like Academy of Art and California College of the Arts were there, as were the UCs and a bunch of small community colleges.  Academy of Art had a great showing, but I was surprised that some of my favorite work came from Foothill College (where Nathan happens to work as an English Professor, but I promise I'm not biased), and I wasn't at all impressed with the work at the California College of the Arts show given their strong reputation.  Above are some of my favorite pieces by Sarah Logan of Mendocino College, JuanJuan Li of Academy of Art, Marisa Burman of San Francisco State University, Shi-Shia Chow of Foothilll College, and Ah-young Jeon of Academy of Art.

How To: Stitching Embroidery

There are about a million embroidery stitches out there.  But there are only a few that I use constantly.  Here is a round up and tutorial of four of my favorite and most often use stitches.

Eating: Grilled Chicken and Veggies

I love grilled food.  That smokey char just can't be beat.  Growing up in Southern California, we had a gas grill right outside the kitchen and grilling was a way of life even in the winter.  Up in the bay we stick to the summer for our grilling adventures, and I have been converted to charcoal.  This weekend was the first time we felt it was really warm enough to be declared grilling weather, so we cooked up a simple dinner to celebrate.

How To: Embroidery Basics

Many embroidery tutorials start with the most common basic stitches.  But there is an even more basic element to embroidery.  Things like choosing the right hoop, transferring your design, how many plies to use for a stitch (and what dose that even mean?), and threading a needle are all essentials one must understand before attempting even the most basic stitch.  So here are the most basic basics of embroidery.

Portfolio: Three Feathers

I'm finished with my latest embroidery piece, and I have officially titled it Three Feathers.  I started this piece over a month ago.  You all saw the sketching process to come up with the designs.  See the details after the jump.

I'm Working On: Embroidery

After several weeks of distractions, fun ones though they were, I'm getting back to work on my embroidery.  The end is in sight, and I'm very pleased with how it has turned out so far.  I'm hoping to be able to share it, along with some tutorials for doing your own embroidery next week.  I'm getting in the embroidery moon by wearing my favorite embroidered dress, pictured above.

When the Going Gets Tough...

There comes a point in many projects when it gets tough.  For whatever reason things stop going smoothly and everything becomes a challenge.  Over the years I have found these three things help me get over the hump.

1.  You are a smart person, use your brain.  When things aren't working out right, I tend to want to force them.  Sometimes that means literally forcing my sewing machine to get through thick fabric, others it is figuratively forcing an idea that just isn't right.  I have to tell myself to use my brain.  I try to pinpoint the problem, and then think of the solution.  It is pretty obvious stuff, but I still need to be reminded.

2.  You have done something harder than this before.  I like to think of something I have done successfully that was harder than whatever I'm struggling with at the moment.  If I'm having a hard time building a headboard, I remind myself that I have built armchairs.  This gives me confidence that as hard as it may seem at the moment if I could pull that off I can pull this off.  If there is really absolutely nothing at all that has been harder than what I am working on, I remind myself how accomplished I will feel when I finish.

3.  If you're not having fun, stop doing it.  I make because I love making.  For me, making is fun and challenging and absolutely fills me with joy.  When I am not getting that feeling from project, something is wrong.  It may be because I'm hungry or have a headache.  It may be because I've lost confidence in the direction I'm taking with a particular project.  It may be because I am just plain burnt out.  No matter what the reason is, when I'm not having fun, the quality of my work suffers.  I have to remind myself to stop.  Maybe I just stop long enough to have a snack.  Maybe I stop for the day to rejuvenate.  Maybe I stop for two months to let an idea simmer or a project take a new direction.  But I make sure that when I go back to it, I'm having fun again.

How To: Upholstered Headboard

When a family friend bought a new apartment, she asked me to upholster a camelback headboard for the bedroom.  Of course I was excited to take on a new project and began to research headboard tutorials online.  As hard as I searched I was unable to find one that offered instructions for the quality headboard I wanted to make for my friend.  So I made my own...

Cactus

I spotted this cactus on my walk to the market today.  Those black tips look so graphic and modern against the pale green.  And I love how you can still see the imprint of when the leaves were all squished together.  Isn't it lovely?

Spring Break Recap

This year's spring break seemed to involve a lot less lounging than usual.  I hit up the local farmer's market with my mom.  I learned how to give myself the fanciest manicure ever from my girl Jamie.  I shopped for project materials in downtown LA.  I had lunch at the Hollywood farmer's market in the rain.  Mostly I spent a lot of time working on a lot of projects.  I spent the better part of Sunday doing the long drive back up to the bay.  As much as I hate spending 6+ hours in the car, I kind of love the scenery of this drive in the springtime.  Wildflowers were growing all over the hills and mountains, it looked as if someone took a can of spray paint to them.  And now I'm home, and very glad to be sitting on the couch with Nathan.

Ocean View

 

I've been a little busy this week with wrapping up some ongoing projects and working on my special super secret project I'm revealing next week.  But I'm trying to remember that this is also my vacation.  So this afternoon I took a walk with my mom to take in this gorgeous view of the clouds rolling in over the Pacific. 

Eating: Chilled Zucchini Soup

I love this soup.  This is another recipe I have been making for so long that I have no idea where it came from (again if it is from you, let me know so I can credit you properly).  In fact, I've been making this for so long that I have the recipe memorized.  This is a super healthy and super easy soup that is delicious hot, but I love it cold.  I make a big batch of it and portion it into single serving containers.  That way I can grab one from the fridge and it's ready to go.  It is a perfect accompaniment to a sandwich or salad for a healthy summer meal.

In the Garden

I spent my morning running around downtown LA, haggling with shopkeeps, and navigating the inexplicable LA traffic.  Just a bit stressful.  I'm spending my afternoon lounging in my mom's garden with my embroidery as the sweet scent of her stunning roses drifts by.  Now this is what vacation should feel like.

Farmer's Market

The bay area has a reputation for local food and farmer's markets.  But I have a soft spot for the Sunday market in my home town in LA.  It's not a large market, but the quality and variety of produce is exceptional.  My mom and I got iced coffee from the local coffee shop and took our time strolling through.  It took a lot of time because I kept stopping to snap more pictures.  We got a bunch of fresh fruit and the most incredible organic strawberries.  We also got ingredients for my favorite zucchini soup, I'll share that recipe later in the week.  We couldn't resist some fresh tamales for a snack and ate them on the sidewalk as we people watched.  It was a great way to spend my first day home.

And I had to get an ice cream cone cookie for the walk home! Yum!

Spring Break: Los Angeles

Today I've been busy packing my bags for a week in LA.  I'm looking forward to a week of family, friends, food, and a pretty exciting DIY I've been preparing for a family friend's new place.  Check in next week to see my LA adventures.  Now the big question is how many pretty dresses will I need for one week? 

Eating: Colcannon

Colcannon is an Irish dish that was a part of our regular family rotation growing up.  It is traditionally made with cabbage and potatoes, and it's delicious that way.  I make traditional colcannon for St. Patrick's day every year.  But as a regular part of my grown up dinner rotation, I make a more modern version with kale and sausage.  Recipe follows.

Les Chats Noirs

I grew up with a black cat.  Ivy was the best cat, she passed away last year at the age of 21 and my family was devastated to lose her. Having such a wonderful feline inspiration, it's no wonder black cats are one of my most common doodles.  I have whole pages in notebooks filled with them.  I'm so fond of my pages full of les chats noirs, that I'm thinking of finding a more practical use for them.  What do you think?

How To: Earring Conversion

When Lara came to visit this weekend, she brought a bunch of fun vintage clip-ons she had collected and wanted to turn them into post earrings.  I agreed to apply my crafty skills, and it was surprisingly easy to do. Tutorial follows...
 

What a Weekend!

Whew!  I feel like I need another weekend after that weekend!  Lara and I chose a design and bought the fabric for her wedding dress.  We had a fun crafting night converting a bunch of vintage clip-on earrings to post earrings.  We had several rounds of celebratory cocktails.  Most importantly... I bought a car!  A brand new Honda Fit.  By far the biggest and scariest purchase I have ever made.  I was so glad to have the support of my best friend here to help me, I couldn't have done it without her.  I've been scrimping and saving for what feels like forever now, and the pay-off is definitely worth it.  Plus, Lara and I got to do some major wedding planning while sitting in the dealership lobby for hours.  I had no idea it takes so much time to buy a car.  All in all it was a pretty great and very exhausting weekend.